


Playing With Fire

by stonecarapace



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 23:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/627573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonecarapace/pseuds/stonecarapace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A date in Ooo wouldn't be complete without some donkus coming along and interrupting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing With Fire

In an effort to add some variety to their date nights, Finn decided to take Flame Princess to the outskirts of the Fire Kingdom, where the volcanoes sloped low and there still grew patches of grass and dry shrubs. Jake had helped him pick out their picnic's supplies; Finn initially wanted to bring sandwiches and a cotton blanket, not thinking, but Jake insisted he bring a bucket of coal, lighter fluid, and a mismatched blanket made of old hazmat suits he'd found in some ruins. As expected, Jake had made the right choice: Flame Princess beamed and nearly hugged Finn when she saw her lunch.

“Jake told me you used to live in a lamp.” They were halfway up a volcano’s slope, and Finn’s shirt was drenched with sweat—it was active, thick coils of black and gray lava winding down its opposite slope. Finn wanted to have their picnic next to the lava flow, but he’d started to burn from the heat in the air and they’d settled for here. “That’s pretty cool.”

Flame Princess picked another coal from her plate. “Not really,” she said. “Dad made sure someone was always with me, but it was still really boring. I hated being on display like that.”

“Oh.” Finn took a bite of his sandwich so he could chew over his response. “Why’d he keep you there?”

She shrugged and popped the coal in her mouth, her flames flickering brightly in response. “I guess it was to keep me safe. Dad has a lot of enemies, and if they couldn’t kill him, then they could at least kill me, you know? The lamp was indestructible. Even the most powerful fire mages couldn’t break it.”

“Wow.” Finn watched, entranced, as her flames trickled against the ground, a low razing that burned the dry grass nearby. His heart started to race. 

“I just wish he would’ve let me out every once in a while—you know I never once made a friend of my own? It was always these little flambits that Dad _made_ for me, or servants that were ordered to make me happy, but there was never anyone I could just—talk to! I couldn’t go anywhere or see _anything_ —sometimes I just _hated it!_ ” Flames burst out from her in an angry aurora; captivated, Finn watched as Flame Princess launched a piece of coal across the landscape and hit a boulder.

“But you’re free now,” Finn said, reaching for her. “I’ll make sure you never—“

The boulder threw the piece of coal back.

“What?” Flame Princess’s flames roared higher and she whipped around to glare at the boulder. “Who do you think you are?!” she screamed. Finn wanted to stop her but didn’t think he could at this point—she was incensed beyond reason, and he was in awe. 

The boulder lurched to its feet, revealing that it was a lava golem. Cracks in its dark gray skin showed a vivid red so bright that it hurt to look at, and its eyes glowed orange and fierce. The melted ridges of its face made his scowl even more intimidating than it would’ve been without, and Finn found his hand going to his sword’s hilt automatically. Flame Princess's rage burned across the volcano’s slope. “Who do _I_ think I am?” the lava golem growled, his voice impossibly low. “Can you believe these young whipper-snappers, disrespectin’ an old man, trespassing on _his_ volcano and throwing rocks at him and then demanding to know _who he thinks he is!_ Well I’ve got something to tell _you,_ missy—“

“How dare you!” Flame Princess roared. She hurled a ball of fire at the golem that glanced off his hard shell, leaving a flash of molten red before his skin reformed. “Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to?” 

“I know I’m speaking to a brat!” With a lift of his arm, the golem rose to meet the Flame Princess’s size and might. Lava began to bubble from the mouth of the volcano and stream down to meet him. 

Finn, who’d already begun to sweat in earnest at Flame Princess’s crackling anger, backed away from the devouring heat. “Guys,” he said, his voice choked by the rising plumes of smoke, “can’t we just—?”

“I’m the Flame Princess, you donk, and I’ll make you regret this!” 

At this the lava golem paused; steam billowed about his feet and blood-red lava dripped from his fingertips. “ _The_ Flame Princess? Daughter of the Flame King?”

“That’s right!” Finn was relieved to see that, though her flames are still at the ready, Flame Princess seemed ready to back down if the lava golem did. 

“Well, that does change things. Flame King and I go way back.”

“You do?” she asked, and began to shrink to her normal size.

“Certainly. I swore to him that if I ever saw him again, I’d kill him and put out every last member of his family. I guess that includes you.” Before Flame Princess could react, a sheet of magma rose from the golem’s feet and threw itself at her. She screamed as it hit her but her flames grew brighter, her size and strength multiplying as it covered her—until it hardened into stone, and Flame Princess disappeared, her shriek cut off with a finality that made Finn’s guts clench. 

The rage hit him with such force that he could hardly see. Finn drew his sword and, with a scream that shook his whole body, ran at the golem. The heat didn’t matter, the pain didn’t matter—all Finn knew was that he was going to _destroy_ the lava golem. With a giant leap, Finn prepared to drive the sword into the golem’s rock skull. Time seemed to slow down: The golem, curious and unconcerned, looked up from the small rock that had once been Flame Princess and peered at Finn; the demon sword sang in Finn’s clutch; the wind rushed under Finn so that he felt like he was flying, bolstered by his blinding rage as if emotions had a magic of their own he’d never known.

Then, the lava golem lifted his massive hand and slapped Finn out of the air.

The pain was immense. Finn remained conscious long enough to realize that some of the lava from the golem had stuck to him, that more lava was pouring down the side of the mountain, and that the boulder that had once been Flame Princess had an incandescent glow that he imagined must be her ghost.

Maybe, he thought, they could be like Ghost Princess and Clarence. That would be pretty math.

*

“Finn. Finn!” Ow. _Owww._ Okay, Finn was definitely alive. That was good, unless Flame Princess was dead. “Finn, wake up, please wake up.” No, that was Flame Princess’s voice. Finn opened his eyes, surprised to find the act difficult, and to his great relief saw Flame Princess staring back. He smiled and tried to talk, but was overcome with a coughing fit—he must’ve inhaled too much smoke, and _glob_ it hurt. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he hacked. “Oh, Finn, I’m so glad you’re okay.” He felt Flame Princess throw the hazmat blanket over him and then her body pressing against his, her arms carefully lined against the blanket. It hurt to be touched, but…but she was hugging him. That was a net gain. As he caught his breath, he opened his arms and hugged back as best as he could. She lifted him off the ground, squeezing hard.

“Ack!“

“Oh—I’m sorry,” she said, and let him go. She clasped her hands in front of her chest to stop herself from touching him again.

That wasn’t what he wanted, but he let the blanket slide off his chest. To his surprise, they were still on the slope of the volcano; the air shimmered around them, but as far as he could tell, the lava had cooled into hard ridges that were warm, but safe. The lava golem was nowhere in sight, though there was an alarming black crater nearby. Finn swallowed. “What—“ he couldn’t suppress a few more coughs, but soldiered on. “What happened?” 

“Don’t worry, he’s gone,” Flame Princess assured him with a pleasant smile. Goosebumps rose on Finn’s arms and he shivered, surprised at how intensely that sentence made him want to touch her. “He must’ve underestimated my fire,” she said. “The lava didn’t cool fast enough to put me out, but—” Her brows furrowed with concern. “But then I didn’t melt it fast enough to stop him from hurting you. I’m so sorry, Finn. This was supposed to be fun, and…”

“It was,” Finn said, breathless and aching. “It was _radical._ Princess, that was amazing. _You’re_ amazing.” He grabbed the blanket and wrapped around her, squeezing her tightly. The burns already hurt badly enough that he didn’t see the harm in pecking her on the cheek, just this once. A tiny coil of steam rose from the contact, and Flame Princess giggled, glowing brighter. “Thank you for saving me.” 

Without another word, the two of them carefully stood and picked their way to what was left of their picnic. They tucked everything back into the basket and Finn, minding his burns, slid it on his arm. Heck, if more of their dates could go so well, Finn would be ecstatic—he got two hugs, was saved by the most amazing princess in the land, and got to learn a bit more about her. 

Next time, though, he might bring some green salve.

**Author's Note:**

> Critique is welcome! This is a style and tone that I'm not used to, so I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.


End file.
